The Soda Bottle Trick That’ll Keep Your Pizza Safe During the Drive Home

Have you ever picked up a pizza for takeout, only to have something disastrous happen to it on your way home? We’re guessing you have … or else Domino’s wouldn’t have a Carryout Insurance Program! One wrong move or a too-fast right-hand turn and you have crust folded up on one side of the box and a puddle of melty cheese on the other.

Mishaps aside, the trickiest part of being your household’s very own pizza delivery person is that most car seats are slightly slanted (for your comfort!). Let a pizza tilt for too long and things start to slide around. And a damaged pizza puts a damper on the whole pizza night concept, for sure. 

However, there’s a solution that not only keeps your pizza toppings in place, but also makes sure you won’t go thirsty: a 16-ounce bottle of soda. The soda bottle problem-solver mimics the effect of the pizza seat belt, an invention made to keep pizza warmers used by professional pizza delivery people level, ensuring that they don’t have any unhappy customers due to slipped-off cheese.

To use a soda bottle to keep your own pizza level on the car seat, simply wedge the bottle, length-side down, in the corner of the seat and then set the pizza box on top of it. This keeps your pizza box level (or, at the very least, a little more level than usual), eliminating the slope that causes pizza mishaps. Plus, it means you get some soda as a little treat.

Note: You could also definitely make this work with, say, your reusable water bottle. We’re just trying to give you any excuse to treat yourself these days. Also, you should still probably be careful with those right-hand turns. Pizza, after all, is precious cargo.

Where does takeout pizza ride when you’re driving?